It May Take a While
by Analytical
Summary: Both Lucy and Gray seem like people who would be really dense about feelings and emotions. So this is a collection of semi-stand alone stories that show the evolution of their relationship.
1. Clothes

Disclaimer: Even though I really want to, I don't own Fairy Tail. I can dream though.

Explanation: Gray seem like the kind of person that would fall in love slowly. Lucy seems like someone who would be really dense to her feelings, and Gray's feelings. So I'm writing a series of semi-independent stories that move their relationship along.

Gray stared at Lucy.

I wasn't his imagination, she really was standing on his doorstep.

"Um.. so, I have a lot of your clothes at my house, and I figured, you might need them so I asked Mira where you live, and I came here to return your clothes, and-"

"You talk too much." Gray cut her off. Glancing around, he remembered his manners. "Would you like to come in?" he asked, not sure how she'd respond.

"Sure," Lucy said, handing him a bag.

"Dang," Gray said eyeing the huge bag of clothes, "You weren't kidding when you said you had a lot of my clothes."

"Yeah, well, you do strip a lot, and your in my house a lot. And Mira had a stash of clothes you left in the guild."

"Thanks." Gray said.

"Huh?" Lucy stared at Gray, "What for?"

"No one else ever had the fore site to give my clothes back to me. I always had to hunt them down myself."

They made their way in and Lucy sat on the couch while Gray sat in a chair.

"Really?" asked Lucy, "That doesn't sound very smart of them."

"Yeah," Gray said, "But that's what I get for having a stripping fetish. No one really cares about my clothes."

"Still," said Lucy, "Do they expect you to buy new clothes? Obviously you don't wear clothes when you can't find them."

"Yeah, well, I don't really wear them though, do I?"

"True," Lucy remarked, "But it's involuntary. You don't strip on purpose."

"That's one of the nicest things any one has ever said to me." Gray admitted.

"You're welcome." Lucy said.

They smiled at each other for a minute.

Lucy looked up suddenly, and said "I have to go, sorry."

Gray didn't really want her to go.

"Okay," he said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

He hugged her goodbye, which seemed to surprise her.

"Yeah," Lucy sighed, "See you tomorrow."

"Lucy is special." Gray thought, "She's the only person smart enough to think I might need my clothes back."

Lucy was different.

Lucy was unique.

Gray liked that.

That's all for now, folks. Don't worry, more will come.

So... I think Gemini Said is over, but that's up to you guys. I'm also completely open to any ideas or critiques you have for my other stories.


	2. Nightmares

Disclaimer: I know every Gray and Lucy fan out there wants me (or themselves) to own Fairy Tail, but I (or they) don't, because life isn't fair. Stupid life.

Explanation: See Chapter 1

Lucy woke up, startled by the nightmare she'd just had. She knew trying to sleep was futile, so she set out on the walk that was becoming routine. She kept waking up with these terrible dreams, and had to leave to get it out of her brain.

She made her way over to the tree she'd sat at for the past week. It was a great place to sit and think. Thanks to this tree she'd come up with tons of ideas for her novel.

"Hey Lucy." Gray said, smiling at her, "I was hoping you'd come."

Gray had been there too for the previous few nights.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I didn't hope you would have nightmares. You're just great to talk to when I had trouble sleeping." Gray said, aware that his excuse sounded poor.

"You know Gray," Lucy said, "I feel the same way. When I've had nightmares, you're the only person who really understands how bad it is."

Gray was obviously relieved, "So, how bad was it?" he inquired. "Judging from how you look, it must have been a doozy."

"What do you mean?" asked Lucy, "What's wrong with the way I look?"

Gray chuckled, "There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You look beautiful. You're just covered in sweat."

"Th-thanks." Lucy stammered. "It was pretty bad." she admitted.

"No matter how bad it was, mine was worse." Gray smirked.

"You stink!" Lucy said, then she smacked him.

"I'm sorry!" he said hurriedly.

Lucy softened visibly. "I know," she said, "But be careful with that mouth of yours, someday, you'll get hurt."

They sat there for a minute, basking in the silence.

It was cold, Lucy shivered.

"Are you cold?" Gray inquired, noticing the shiver."

"Yeah," Lucy sighed, "It's almost winter, I should have remembered a coat or sweater."

"Here," Gray said, wrapping his arms around Lucy, pulling her closer. "I'll warm you up."

"That's a little ironic." remarked Lucy, "An Ice Mage warming someone up."

"True," Gray agreed, "But since when have any of us made sense?"

"Yeah..." Lucy trailed off, snuggling in closer to Gray, enjoying the warmth too much to be embarrassed by it. "No one in Fairy Tail is normal."

"Now, about your dream..." Gray said, "I'd like to hear it."

"You have to tell me too." Lucy bargained.

"Deal," Gray smiled, "I would have told you anyway Luce, you should know that."

"I know." Lucy thought for a minute. "You remember Nirvana?" she asked.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I dreamed we found something just like it, and you were turned evil. Then you slowly killed everyone in the guild except me. You told me that you were going to always torture me, and you said all these terrible things you would do to everyone in Magnolia. And I couldn't do anything to stop it. Just as you started whipping me, I woke up."

"That is pretty bad." Gray agreed, "Those types of dreams are your fear that when you have to stop something, you won't be able to. I hate those."

They sat there a while, thinking.

"Would you like a cookie?" Gray asked, holding out a bag.

"Yes I would." Lucy said, "Where did you get them?"

"I brought them from home, I figured we would be hungry. Nightmares are hard work."

"Did you make them?"

"Yeah."

"They're really good."

"Thanks."

After a minute of quiet chewing, Gray turned to Lucy. "Mine was worse, you know." he told her.

"Well, you have to tell me anyways, what was it about?" Lucy couldn't hide her curiosity.

"Happy and Natsu thought that I was a giant fish, and tried to eat me. Then I was saved by Erza, but she decided to tell me she was secretly my mother."

"Who was your father? Jellal?"

"No, it was me from Edolas."

"You look an awful lot like your father." Lucy joked.

"You're not going to even comment on the fact that both Erza and the alternate universe version of me are way too young to be my parents?" Gray asked incredulously.

"Why should I? Dreams don't have to make sense. I mean, you would never do anything to hurt the guild, but you did in my nightmare."

"Point taken." Gray said.

"You were right though." Lucy remarked.

"About what?" Gray was bewildered.

"Your nightmare was much worse."

"Told you!"

Lucy looked at Gray, then grinned, "It's late, we should go home."

"Yeah," Gray smiled, "We should."

But neither of them left.

And when morning came, Gray and Lucy were still at that tree. Still snuggled together, as they had been the night before.

Sleeping, a thing neither of them would have done without the other.

That's all for now!

So, there's this one amazing guest who's given me all these great reviews, and I just wanted to tell her thank you. I know you asked me to write a story about Gray quitting a smoking habit, but I can't see Gray smoking. Can you clarify? If that's something you want though, I'll do my best, because you've been so nice to me and you deserve it.


	3. Baking

Disclaimer: Geez... I'm running out of clever things to say on these. I guess I'll just tell you I don't own them.

Quick Author's Note: I realized the that I haven't ever seen anyone really bake on Fairy Tail. I instantly wrote a story about baking. It makes almost no sense. Sorry.

It wasn't Gray's fault that Lucy had such an awesome apartment. And since it was so nice, he loved to be there.

Plus there was the added bonus of Lucy being there.

All the times he'd been there, he had never seen her baking.

So when he walked in to find her making a batch of cookies, he almost fell over in surprise.

It was fascinating to watch. She seemed to dance with the stuff in the kitchen. Lucy had never seemed that graceful to him, but today she was.

"Hey Gray!" she said, "I'm mad at you for coming into my house uninvited, but I needed help, so I won't kick you out or yell at you _yet_."

Gray just stared at her.

"Um... Gray?" Lucy looked at him worriedly.

"You're... baking." he said incredulously. "I didn't know _you_ could do that!"

"First time for everything." Lucy shrugged, "I was bored, and hungry, so, what else was there to do?"

"That's not why your doing it." Gray told her, "But I _like_ to bake, so... I'll help."

"Thanks!" Lucy said, then added, "Though I'm not sure why you don't believe me when I say I was bored and needed something to do."

"I'll tell you later." said Gray, "What kind of cookies are you making?"

"Peanut butter chocolate chip." Lucy answered. "But all I want you to do is scoop the dough onto the cookie sheets."

"Where did you get these things?" Gray asked, looking at the flimsy bakeware, "These are crud."

"Borrowed them from Natsu." she told him warily.

"Tch. Natsu, he doesn't know a _thing_ about baking. Come on, grab that dough, we're going to my house, because that oven doesn't look very good either." Gray seemed to care about this more than he should, but baking was one if his favorite things to do.

"No." Lucy said stubbornly, "I'm making my cookies in my house, lousy oven or not."

"Fine!" Gray relented, "But we're getting you better cookie sheets. I'll be right back."

Lucy sighed, "So much for _his_ help," she thought, "I'll be done by the time he gets back!"

It didn't take long for Gray to find one of his favorite baking tools, his stone cookie sheets. He ran back to Lucy's as fast as he could. He got there just in time, because Lucy had started to place the cookies on the sheet.

"Stop that!" he yelled, "What did I tell you? Those things are crud! Don't use them! Use these!" He handed her one of his beautiful sheets, and set to work on the other one. After a little while he glanced at Lucy. "You're scooping all wrong!" he said, "Do it this way." Gray put his arms over Lucy's and showed her how it was done. His cookie scoops were actually pretty amazing. They were all exactly the same size and shape. It was something he prided himself upon.

"I get it!" Lucy told Gray.

"Are you sure?" he questioned.

"Yes!"

"Okay." Gray reluctantly took his arms off of Lucy, "What's the _real_ reason for making cookies?"

"I was bore-"

"No you weren't!" Gray snapped, "You're friends with Natsu. How could you ever be bored when he's blowing stuff up?"

"Why is it so hard to believe I just wanted to make something?" Lucy inquired.

"I know you better than you give me credit for." Gray explained.

"You win!" Lucy said in frustration, "I wanted to have cookies on hand for when we have nightmares. I was _hoping_ to surprise you the next time we met outside."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to ruin the surprise." Gray apologized.

"It's okay, your help was nice, and you saved me from the terrible cookie sheets." Lucy winked.

Gray grinned, "Next time, we're making them at my house!"

Then Natsu and Erza walked in. They stared with shocked expressions as Gray and Lucy made their way around the kitchen like an old married couple.

Or rather, _Erza_ watched their interactions. Natsu just stared at the cookies.

"You made cookies!" Natsu yelled.

"They're not for you!" Gray and Lucy shouted back in unison.

It was too late, Natsu had already devoured half of them.

"Oh well, I guess we'll have to make more." Lucy sighed.

"But definitely in my kitchen, your oven is terrible." Gray smiled at her.

"Maybe," Lucy said, then kicked Natsu, "Quit eating my cookies!"

Gray smirked, if he knew Natsu, the pink-haired imbecile would _always_ eat their cookies.

And if he knew Lucy, they would just make more.

It was a losing battle.

But it meant Gray would spend more time with Lucy.


	4. Pajamas

Disclaimer: I still don't own them. Don't worry, I'll work through my pain... somehow.

When winter set in, Lucy told Gray that she wouldn't be able to handle the cold outside. So they had to meet at her house.

Interestingly enough, this gave Gray the opportunity to see her in several pairs of pajamas.

Before that she would get dressed to go outside.

But in her own home...

Lucy seemed to have an inexhaustible supply if them.

As far as Gray knew, she had never worn the same pair twice.

One day he commented on this.

"How many sets of pajamas do you _have_?" he asked as she set out the familiar cookies and milk.

She was wearing a pink satin pair that night.

"I don't know." Lucy replied, "Maybe ten?"

"It seems like more than ten." Gray said, raising an eyebrow, "You have satin ones in every color of the rainbow, black ones with stars, pink ones with bunnies, blue ones with clouds, plaid ones, I think you even wore some with the Fairy Tail insignia on them..."

"I get it!" she snapped, "I like my pajamas, okay?"

"I like your pajamas too," Gray said "They suit you."

"Pervert!" Lucy shouted, then said quietly, "Thank you though."

"Your welcome." Gray solemnly said.

"What about you?" Lucy questioned, "Do you ever sleep in anything besides boxers? And why do all your boxers look the same? Or do you only have one pair?"

"Um... It's way too hot to sleep in anything more, and I bought all of my boxers this one time when they were on sale. I think I bought a hundred, just to be sure that I would never run out." Gray explained.

"What happens if you _do_ run out?" she inquired.

"If I do run out, which I _highly doubt_ will happen, I'll have to go back to that store. Or just not wear underwear." Gray seemed entirely serious about this, but Lucy wasn't certain whether or not he was kidding.

"I'm sure you could find something else." Lucy told him, "Because if you didn't wear underwear, you would be naked a lot of the time. I don't think anyone could handle that."

"Why, because I'm so attractive?" Gray teased.

"No," Lucy blushed, "Not because of _that_."

It took Gray a minute to realize that Lucy had never denied his sex appeal.

"You want to talk about your nightmare?" Gray asked, changing the subject.

"No, it was good enough to just talk to you. You always make me feel better, just by being here." Lucy said, struggling not to be embarrassed by her words.

"You want to know something Luce?"

"What?"

"Your my anti-nightmare medicine too. Thanks for being there." despite their lack of elegance, Grays words were heartfelt, and they touched Lucy.

"I'll always be here." she said.

"I will to." Gray agreed.

"To the extinction of nightmares!" Lucy toasted, raising her glass of milk.

"Agreed!" Gray said, raising his.

As he sipped his milk, munched his cookie, and stated into her chocolate brown eyes, Gray realized something.

He was falling for Lucy.

It would be a long fall, but it would hurt when he hit the bottom.

Lucy knew she had already fallen for Gray.

And she knew one day, they would be together.

But...

It may take a while.


	5. Pants

Disclaimer: If I lied, and said I _did_ own Fairy Tail, do you think anyone would actually believe me? Maybe I could trick someone into making an entire episode on Lucy and Gray's relationship.

Quick Author's Note: This story is about winter. Partially because I needed to escape the heat, and partially _because I can_.

The way Lucy dressed, you would think she didn't feel the cold, like Gray.

Gray knew better. She was _freezing_.

As Natsu and him had a wonderful snowball fight, she just stared on.

"You should join in!" he called to her.

"No thanks!" she replied.

"It's because you're too cold, isn't it?" Gray smirked as he walked over to her.

"Yes..." Lucy blushed at her obvious lack of preparation for the weather.

"Why aren't you wearing pants?" Gray gestured to the tiny skirt she was wearing.

"Um... I don't own any." This was getting more embarrassing by the minute for Lucy.

"You could wear some of your pajama pants." he teased her, thinking back to their conversation about how many she really had.

"I can't wear my pajamas in public!" Lucy exclaimed, "What would people think?"

"You could get away with wearing your ones with the Fairy Tail symbol. Or, you know, borrow some jeans from me." Gray was dead serious on this. Lucy shouldn't wear tiny skirts in the middle of winter unless she was like him and didn't feel the cold.

"I'll wear the Fairy Tail ones!" Lucy said hurriedly.

"Good," Gray said, and turned around into a giant snowball. It hit his face.

"Ha ha! I got you Ice Princess!" Natsu jeered.

"You'll pay for that Flame-Brain!" Gray yelled.

Gary's ice magic was absolutely no help in this fight, considering that Natsu simply melted all of his snowballs.

"You can't use your magic!" Gray shouted at him.

"Then don't use yours!" Natsu crowed.

"Sounds fair!" Gray agreed, and surprisingly, did stop using his magic.

Natsu was so shocked, he didn't notice when Lucy snuck up on him and smashed a snowball onto his head.

"That was payback." she told him. "For hitting Gray while I was talking to him."

"I'm sorry!" Natsu whimpered. He and Happy then flew away to give the two of them "space"

"Thanks!" Gray said, "I knew I could count on you!"

"No problem!" Lucy replied, "Besides, you distracted him for me. I should be thanking _you_."

Gray smiled, "Then we're even." he said, then changed the subject, "You change fast." he commented, eyeing her non-pajama pants. "And you're not wearing your Fairy Tail pants."

"Turns out I actually did have a pair," she explained, "And it looked like you guys were having so much fun so..."

"You need more pants." Gray said.

"I guess they are pretty nice..." Lucy admitted, "Maybe I will buy some more."

"You better, because I want to hang out with you outside this winter, but I _will not_ allow you to walk around in those tiny skirts. You'll get frostbite or something."

"I appreciate your concern." Lucy said, then gave Gray a kiss on the cheek.

"What was that for?" Gray was bewildered.

"For caring. And for reminding me of the magic of pants." Lucy smiled.

"I've always liked them." Gray kissed her on the cheek. "Thanks for knowing I care. And nailing Natsu! That was awesome!"

He handed her a rose made of ice and walked away.

"You really look good in pants!" he yelled to her.

"You too." she waved.

"She thinks I look good in pants... Wait I always wear pants! Is she implying that I _always_ look good?" Gray muttered to himself. "What is Lucy trying to tell me? Could she possibly like me too?"

"Is it weird that I had already bought pants because I wanted to be with Gray in the snow?" Lucy asked herself, "I know I love him, but lately it's affecting everything I do! Why am I so obsessed? Could Gray feel the same way?"

One day soon, the mages would realize how the other felt.

Too bad they were both incredibly thick.

They'll figure it out.

Eventually.


	6. The Deal

Disclaimer: Are Lucy and Gray a couple? No? Then I don't own Fairy Tail.

I hope this makes up for it.

Gray had to admit that he was _way_ too involved with Lucy.

He hasn't even had a nightmare that night, but he was _still_ heading over to her house.

He was just messing with his feelings.

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

Seeing that the light was on, and thinking that Lucy would be expecting him, Gray just walked right into her house (as usual).

When he walked in, a bra hit him in the face.

"Kya! Intruder!" Lucy screamed.

"Baka!" Gray said, "It's me, your friend, the one that comes over to talk nightmares with you!"

"Oh," Lucy reddened.

Gray then glanced at the item she had thrown at him, "You threw your bra at me?" He raised an eyebrow.

Lucy was now a shade of red that rivaled Erza's hair. "It was in my hand, and I had to throw something at the person barging into my house!"

Gray grinned, then tossed the bra back at her. "Why weren't you expecting me?" he asked, "And why are you sorting laundry?"

"Oh... Well, um, you said that you weren't having any nightmares lately, yesterday at the guild. I couldn't sleep, so I decided instead of waiting for you I would do something that needed doing: sorting my laundry so I can wash it." Lucy answered, incredibly flustered.

"I haven't had a single bad dream in almost a month." Gray admitted.

"Nani?" said Lucy, bewildered, "Then why do you keep coming?"

"Just because I slept better doesn't mean I don't miss you. I reliably wake up at the same time, every night, really wanting to talk to you." Gray explained.

"Oh, I'm flattered," Lucy said, "I always want to see you too."

"I guess that means we're really good friends!" Gray smiled.

"Right," Lucy said disappointedly, "Friends, that's all."

"You don't like me or anything, do you?" Gray asked, hoping she said yes.

"Um..." Lucy said.

"'Cause if you do, I like you too." Gray smirked at her.

"As friends?" Lucy inquired.

"That's up to you." Gray told her.

"You're confusing!" Lucy complained. "I don't know what I'm supposed to say!"

"It doesn't matter," Gray said, "Whatever you want, I'm good with. Besides," he teased, "You have excellent taste in bras." He gestured to to the undergarment still in her hand.

Lucy rolled her eyes, and smacked Gray, "Can we think about it? I have no idea if things would ever actually you know, work between us. I mean, Juvia would probably kill me if we started going out."

"Ow! That hurt!" Gray said irritably, "But you might be right. I think Loke and just about every other guy in the guild would be jealous enough to beat me up."

"Deal?" Lucy asked.

Deal." Gray agreed.

They shook on it, then just sat there a while. (Neither person had let go of the others hand.)

"I think I love you." Lucy told Gray.

"You do?" Gray asked.

Lucy sighed discontentedly. "Really? _That's _how you're going to reply to that?" she said.

"Oh... uh... I think I love you too?" Gray fumbled.

Lucy hugged him, "That's better," she whispered.

"Can I have a kiss goodnight?" Gray pleaded.

"Hm... I don't see why not." she said, and kissed him on the cheek.

"That's not quite what I meant." Gray said, annoyed.

"I know," Lucy said.

"I guess I'll have to get that kiss myself." he grinned.

"Hm... You sure?" Lucy smiled mischievously.

"Yep!" Gray said confidently, "I'm going to get that kiss."

Lucy beat him to it, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"That's better," Gray said, echoing Lucy's previous words."

"You're welcome." she smiled.

"You'll be thinking about it, right?" Gray asked.

"Yeah," Lucy said, "But I'm pretty sure I've already decided."

"Tell me soon, 'kay?" Gray said.

"Don't worry, I will," Lucy said, then changed the subject, "We should get some sleep."

"Do I have to go home?" Gray said, staring at Lucy with his best adorable puppy look.

"No..." Lucy replied, "But you have to sleep on the couch, or the floor. You are not sleeping in the bed with me. Yet."

Gray smiled at wonderful, predicable Lucy, "Of course I'm not sleeping in the same bed as you! We're not even dating... as of now." He couldn't help thinking about how Lucy had added "yet" to her sentence.

"Yeah, well, that hasn't stopped Natsu." Lucy explained.

"Right..." Gray said, filled with jealousy.

They turned out the lights and crawled into their separate sleeping areas.

"Goodnight Lucy." Gray said.

"'Night." Lucy replied, "And Gray..."

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Sweet dreams."

"You too. And Lucy..."

"What?"

"I don't think I love you. I know I love you." Gray confessed.

"I hope you're right." Lucy said.

THE END (for now)

Yeah, I know this doesn't make any sense, but this just went in a totally different direction then I was planning.

This story is moving way more quickly than I planned. I'm sorry.


	7. The Deal 2

Disclaimer: Still the same as last time. I don't own Fairy Tail.

Author's Note: So... this really just seals off the previous chapter. Think of it as part two.

As Lucy and Gray walked home from the restaurant, Lucy was struck by the fact that they had never made a decision regarding whether or not they would become a couple, but here they were, on a date. Not that she was really bothered by this.

"So Gray," she said mischievously, "Did we ever decide of we were going to remain as just friends?"

Gray rolled his eyes, but played along, "I don't know," he said, "We may have to go on a couple more dates before we make up our minds."

They stopped under the tree where they used to meet to talk about nightmares. Now they met there just to talk, because they were both rid of bad dreams. (Thanks to each other.)

(Note: At this time, it is late spring, so they are not freezing.)

"Yeah," Lucy smiled, "We wouldn't want to make a bad decision!"

"Imagine the terror!" Gray grinned.

"You might even have to kiss me again!" Gray told her, "After all, once was not enough!"

"You sure?" Lucy asked, now serious.

"Completely certain," Gray said, his arms circling around her waist, pulling her closer.

Lucy found her arms closing around Gray, and their faces inches apart. She felt Gray's cool breath tickle her nose. They were slowly closing the gap.

When their lips found each other, it was nothing like the kiss from the few nights before. That one had been small and quick, but this one was long and passionate. After what had seemed like hours to Lucy, they finally parted, both panting heavily.

"Have you made up your mind yet?" Gray inquired.

"Mm... maybe. What about you?" Lucy replied.

"My mind was made up the minute I asked you how you felt a couple of nights ago." Gray answered, "I told you that I was sure I love you, and I still am. I hope you accept me as your boyfriend."

"I love you too," Lucy grinned, "And I do accept you."

"Can I have another kiss?" Gray pleaded.

"Yes," Lucy said.

They kissed for forever, before falling asleep underneath their familiar tree.

The End!

Okay, I finished off this story, (Unless anyone wants more.) so now I can start a new one. I'm going to try to limit myself to having one or two stories open at a time. Just so you know.

Anyways, as you should all know, I take requests. So request away!


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